How to Revoke a Green Card: Grounds, Surrender, and Exit Tax

A green card can be revoked in one of two ways: the federal government can strip lawful permanent resident status through removal proceedings before an immigration judge, or the cardholder can voluntarily give it up by filing Form I-407 and surrendering the physical card. Either path ends the right to live and work in the United States, and both carry consequences, including possible tax liability, that reach well past the immigration file itself.

Grounds the Government Can Use to Revoke Status

Federal immigration law lists specific categories of conduct that make a permanent resident deportable. Most cases fall into three groups: criminal convictions, fraud in obtaining the green card, and abandonment of U.S. residency.

Criminal Convictions

A conviction for an aggravated felony at any point after admission makes a green card holder deportable.¹ The statutory definition is much wider than the ordinary meaning of the phrase. It reaches murder, rape, and sexual abuse of a minor, but also drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, money laundering above $10,000, fraud with losses above $10,000, theft or burglary carrying a sentence of at least one year, and even tax evasion where the revenue loss exceeds $10,000.² There is no time limit. A conviction decades after the card was issued still triggers deportability.

A separate ground covers crimes involving moral turpitude committed within five years of admission that carry a potential sentence of one year or more.¹ Moral turpitude is a vague category, but it generally covers conduct that is inherently dishonest or harmful, such as fraud, theft, or assault with intent to cause serious injury. The five-year window runs from the date of admission.

Fraud or Misrepresentation in the Application

Green card holders who obtained their status through fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact are deportable on inadmissibility grounds.³ Concealing a prior marriage, hiding a criminal record, or submitting forged documents all fit here.

A related mechanism lets the government rescind an adjustment of status within five years if the person was not actually eligible for the status they received.⁴ The clock runs from the date the status was adjusted, and the government must show the person was ineligible at that time.

Abandonment of Residency

Status can also be lost when the government determines the cardholder no longer treats the United States as their permanent home. The clearest trigger is staying outside the country for more than one year without first obtaining a reentry permit.⁵ Shorter absences can still create problems when other facts point toward abandonment.

USCIS looks at the totality of circumstances. Moving abroad with the intent to live there permanently, filing U.S. tax returns as a nonimmigrant, and letting ties to the United States lapse all count against you. Getting a reentry permit before leaving, or applying for a returning resident visa while abroad, supports the position that an absence was temporary.⁶

What Happens in Removal Proceedings

The government cannot cancel a green card by mailing a letter. Involuntary revocation runs through formal removal proceedings before an immigration judge, and the cardholder keeps meaningful procedural protections along the way.

Federal law guarantees the right to be represented by an attorney, though at the individual’s expense rather than the government’s. The person can examine the evidence against them, present their own evidence, and cross-examine government witnesses. A complete record of testimony and evidence must be kept.⁷

The burden of proof sits with the government. It must show deportability by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence, whether the case rests on a criminal conviction, fraud, or abandonment. If the government cannot meet that burden, the resident keeps their status.

How to Voluntarily Give Up a Green Card

Voluntarily ending permanent resident status requires filing Form I-407, the Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status, which is available on the USCIS website.⁸ The form is designed to confirm that the choice is informed and voluntary. It is short, but accuracy matters.

You need your Alien Registration Number (the nine-digit number on the front of your green card), a current foreign address, and a clear explanation of why you are giving up status. Common reasons include a permanent move abroad or a desire to end U.S. tax obligations. The certification section asks you to acknowledge the consequences: permanent loss of the right to live and work in the United States, and the need to obtain a visa for future visits.

Where to Send It

As of late 2025, USCIS accepts Form I-407 at its facility in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The filing address has changed more than once, so older instructions online may list outdated locations; check the “Where to File” section on the current USCIS Form I-407 page before mailing anything.⁹ You may also submit the form in person to a Customs and Border Protection officer at a U.S. port of entry.⁸

Your physical green card must be included with the submission. USCIS will not process the abandonment without it.

Once the agency processes the filing, it updates the immigration record and returns a processed copy of the Form I-407. That document is your official proof that residency has legally ended. Processing times run from a few weeks to several months depending on agency workload.

Do Not Sign at the Border Unless You Mean It

Returning green card holders who have spent extended time abroad are sometimes handed Form I-407 by a CBP officer at the port of entry. The form is for voluntarily abandoning status, and no one can be forced to sign it.⁸ If you are presented with the form and do not want to give up your green card, you have the right to refuse and to request a hearing before an immigration judge instead. Signing at the border is immediate and effectively irreversible, so it should never be treated as a formality.

Tax Consequences of Giving Up a Green Card

Relinquishing a green card can trigger significant federal tax obligations, especially for long-term residents holding substantial assets. Skipping the required steps can produce penalties that dwarf the inconvenience of filing.

Who Counts as a Long-Term Resident

The IRS treats you as a long-term resident if you held lawful permanent resident status in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years ending with the year you give up your green card.¹⁰ Meet that threshold and the expatriation tax rules apply to you the same way they apply to a U.S. citizen renouncing citizenship. Hold a green card for only a few years and most of these provisions will not reach you.

The Covered Expatriate Test

A long-term resident who gives up a green card is classified as a “covered expatriate” if any one of three tests applies:

Income tax test: your average annual net income tax liability for the five years before termination exceeds a threshold that adjusts annually for inflation. For 2025 terminations, that threshold was $206,000.
Net worth test: your net worth is $2 million or more on the date you terminate residency.
Certification test: you fail to certify on Form 8854 that you have complied with all federal tax obligations for the preceding five years.

The certification test is easy to miss.¹¹ Even if your income and net worth are well below the thresholds, failing to properly certify compliance on Form 8854 makes you a covered expatriate by default.

The Mark-to-Market Exit Tax

Covered expatriates are treated as having sold all of their worldwide assets at fair market value on the day before their expatriation date. Any net unrealized gain above an annual exclusion amount is taxed as income in that year.¹² The exclusion was roughly $866,000 for 2025 terminations and adjusts annually for inflation. Nothing actually has to be sold; the tax lands on the theoretical gain, and a large bill can follow for someone holding appreciated real estate, investments, or business interests.

Required Filings

Every long-term resident who terminates residency must file Form 8854 with the IRS for the year of termination, whether or not they are a covered expatriate.¹⁰ That is separate from your regular income tax return. For the year you give up your green card, you will also likely need to file a dual-status return using Form 1040-NR marked “Dual-Status Return,” with a Form 1040 statement attached showing income for the portion of the year you were still a resident.¹³ Anyone with meaningful assets or income should get professional tax advice before filing the I-407.

Coming Back After Voluntary Abandonment

Giving up a green card is not a permanent bar on entering the United States, but it resets your immigration status. You revert to being a foreign national subject to the visa rules that apply to your country of citizenship.

To visit after completing the I-407 process, you apply for a nonimmigrant visa through the ordinary channels. Do not schedule a visa interview until the abandonment is fully processed, and bring proof that it is complete.¹⁴ If your country of citizenship takes part in the Visa Waiver Program, you can apply for ESTA authorization once USCIS has confirmed the abandonment, but not while the paperwork is still pending.¹⁵

Abandoning your green card does not prevent you from immigrating again later. You would start the green card process over from the beginning through the usual application channels, though having previously held and voluntarily given up permanent residency is likely to draw questions during any future visa or immigration application.¹⁴

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
2
Legal Information Institute. Definition: Aggravated Felony From 8 USC 1101(a)(43)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1256 – Rescission of Adjustment of Status; Effect Upon Naturalized Citizen
5
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Can a U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident Leave the United States Multiple Times and Return?
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Maintaining Permanent Residence
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-407, Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Lockbox and Service Center Filing Location Updates
10
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8854
11
Internal Revenue Service. Expatriation Tax
12
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 519 U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
13
Internal Revenue Service. Taxation of Dual-Status Individuals
14
U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Morocco. Giving Up Your Green Card
15
U.S. Embassy in Iceland. Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status (I-407)